Schiavoni Formalizes Bid for Governor

Schiavoni Formalizes Bid for Governor

COLUMBUS, Ohio – State Senate Minority Leader, Joe Schiavoni this morning formally announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor.

The announcement follows U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s announcement yesterday that he would not seek the party’s nod in the 2018 race.

Schiavoni, D-33 Boardman, said he was running to provide “the new generation of leadership” needed to move the state forward.

“After seven years of Republican control, we still don’t have the high-paying jobs that places like Youngstown, Toledo and the Ohio Valley so desperately need. Our roads and bridges are falling apart. Our public education system is woefully underfunded. Ohio’s opioid epidemic continues to plague our communities,” he said in a news release announcing his bid. “Meanwhile, Ohio Republicans give hundreds of millions of dollars to failing charter schools and billions in income tax cuts to the very rich.

He also said the nest governor needs to be someone who can speak to voters in all parts of the state – “urban, suburban and rural” – and who will fight for all Ohioans, regardless of where they live and who they voted for in the past.

“I am not a career politician and I’m not going to be the anointed candidate. But I am a fighter, the fighter that Ohio needs,” he continued. “I will work harder than anyone, visit every part of the state and meet with every Ohioan I can until I win.”

Schiavoni was appointed to a vacant Ohio Senate seat in 2008 and was elected to the first of two four-year terms in 2010. In 2013, he was elected Democratic senate leader after previously serving two years as assistant Democratic leader.

Other Democrats considering the race include Richard Cordray, director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Jay Williams, who served as assistant commerce secretary for economic development in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Republicans mulling a bid include Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and state Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Copyright 2017 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

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